Colman, Co-founder of The Eager Beaver Baseball Association
In 1955, Colman co-founded the Eager Beaver Baseball Association (EBBA) with sportsman Gordon Berryhill and that organization renamed its all-star day -- "Frank Colman Day" -- in 1984. The EBBA is still going strong 51 years later, having mentored thousands of young ballplayers.
Before Frank Colman died of cancer in 1983 at the age of 65, he had been working at the University of Western Ontario in the maintenance department.
Sixteen years later in 1999, Frank Colman was inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame. In a letter to the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 1999, Yogi Berra wrote that he visited Colman at his home in Canada on several occasions.
"I've made a lot of friends in baseball through the years, but I'll always remember Frank as one of the most decent and genuine people that I ever met," Berra wrote. "I was proud that he was my friend."
His son, Frank Colman Jr., accepted the Hall of Fame plaque at the ceremony in St. Marys, Ontario with a large contingent of Colmans on hand.
"If he were here, I think he would say his greatest accomplishment has been his contribution to the community through the work with the Eager Beaver Baseball Association," his son said. "That was his real pride and joy. He really loved that kind of work."
In 2005, Colman was also inducted into the London Sports Hall of Fame at the John Labatt Centre.
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